I promise you
by Seraine
Summary: A boy hurts Sakura but luckily Syaoran was there to save her. Syaoran vows to make the boy pay, but is there more to the guy than he thinks? SS ET, please RR
1. Prologue

A/N: Ok, this is the same story as "Sorcerer of Hell", aka "I'll always be there". Fanfiction deleted my story because of..uh...the rape scene in the second chapter i suppose...anyhow, this is practically the same story except I made some changes and added some more...meaningful stuff to it. :P Oh yes, i changed the title _again_ because it fitted better with this version of the story. Gomen for all the confusion!

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Prologue

"_Tell me a bed time story mother, please?" whined a little girl with bright emerald green eyes. _

_Nadeshiko smiled at her daughter and said, "Alright, but afterwards you have to go straight to sleep."_

"_Hai!" squealed the little girl. She had always loved her mother's stories._

_Nadeshiko made herself comfortable on the edge of her daughter's bed and said to her daughter, "Have you ever wondered why locking fingers is a sign of promise?"_

_Her daughter shook her head._

"_Well there's a story which goes like this:_

"_Once long ago when dragons roamed the skies, there lived one princess with long silky black hair and deep blue eyes. She was beautiful and wise; therefore, princes from every country came to ask for her hand in marriage. The princess did not know who to choose, so she set up a simple task. She would hold out her pinky finger and place it behind her back. Whoever guessed which finger she held up, he would become her king. _

_Many princes came to try for task, but none succeed. Finally, it was left to five princes from five different countries. _

_The first prince held up his thumb, the princess shook her head but smiled at him grateful and said, "Thank you."_

_The second princess held up his forefinger. The princess shook her head and moved on._

_The third held up his middle finger, and the princess, highly offended, slapped him and demanded for him to be taken away._

_The fourth prince held up his ring finger but the princess just waved him away. _

_Finally, last but not least, the fifth prince. He held up his pinky finger._

_The princess held up her finger and locked it with his._

_They smiled at each other and they were instantly married. _

_Five peaceful years passed until the time when the prince had to out to war. The princess locked fingers with him and said he had to come back to her, no matter what. Their locked fingers will be the sign of promise. The prince nodded and left reluctantly, leaving the princess in distress. _

_Another five years passed and the prince still hadn't returned. Finally, after a month, the prince was announced to have been dead. _

_The princess was horrified and cried herself to sleep every night, thinking of her lost beloved. _

_But she must have a king. _

_So she set up the task again, and the princes all came to be tested. Not one held up their pinky finger. _

_Then a beggar came to the kingdom. The guards tried frantically to kick him out but the beggar would not budge. The princesses told them to let him in, everybody should have a chance. _

_The princess stepped up to him with her hand behind her back and smiled encouragingly. _

_The beggar raised his pinky finger. _

_The black haired princess looked at him with shock. She raised her finger shakily and the beggar locked his pinky with hers. He was her long lost prince. _

_That night, the prince woke up suddenly. He watched the princess with a sad look in his eyes and hurried out the door. _

_The princess woke up and ran after him. She watched as he slowly faded into the night air, glints of tears clouded his eyes as he waved goodbye. _

_A spirit can stay in the human world for 49 days, and that day, was the 49th. The prince came back to keep his promise. _

_The princess ordered her palace guards and knights to search for the king's body. They found him._

_The princess lay down beside him. She picked up a bottle, drank it, and then locked her pinky finger with his. _

_She died."_

_Nadeshiko finished her story and whispered softly, "And that is why, locking pinkies is a sign of promise." _

_She smiled down at her daughter whose eyes were shut tightly, a small smile on her little face._

_Nadeshiko held up her pinky finger and locked it with her daughter's. She said, "I promise that I'll always watch over you, Sakura." _

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Weeell thats the prologue for this version. The 'pinky finger story', as i call it, is taken from a korean movie called "Windstruck". i just looove that movie cause its so funny and so touching, i cried in several places. -sniffle- and if you can, you should really watch it! i love the soundtrack as well...ok, please RR! 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"You're staying?" said 16 year old Sakura Kinomoto brightly, flashing the boy before her a brilliant smile of happiness.

16 year old Syaoran Li kept his eyes fixed on the classroom floor as he felt his face grow hot.

_Damn she looked cute. _He stepped on himself.

Sakura cocked her head.

"Oh…nothing…I just…uh…tripped…" he mumbled and cleared his throat.

"See, I convinced mother to let me carry on with my study here, since I've grown so close to yo – to Japan…" he mentally kicked himself for even having the idea of saying 'you' in front of her, as if he wasn't red enough already. Nevertheless, he congratulated himself a job-well-done at convincing – well, forcing would be a better word – his mother to let him stay at Japan. Not that it had anything to do with study of course, and he decided to keep the real reason to himself. He gave himself a bonus point for telling his mother that he was old enough to take care of himself, and did not need Wei to look after him anymore; which meant having the whole house to himself. He snorted at the memory of Meiling's disappointed face when he said that she should stay in Hong Kong. Plus (he felt slightly annoyed because he hadn't been told about it) she had gotten herself a boyfriend throughout the years.

But his thoughts were broken when he felt a sudden weight on himself, and he felt his jaw drop at the realization of what happened.

Sakura had felt a surge of happiness fill her whole body, and had flung herself onto the boy thoughtlessly. Her only thought at that time, was to hug him and to never let him go. Of course, he wasn't going anywhere – he had said himself that he was going to stay in Japan.

"S…Sakura…"

"Mm?" she said happily, her arms still around his neck.

"Need...air...can't...breathe..." said Syaoran with extreme difficulty.

And she finally realized what she was doing. She practically jumped off him and stood with her hands behind her back, her face fire red as she noticed that the whole class had fallen silent with their mouths wide open.

"Uh…I…uh…summimasen…!" she squeaked and raced out of the classroom, followed by a giggling girl with long black hair.

Syaoran stared after them. A boy with midnight blue hair grinned and patted him on the back. "Consider that the first sign of love, cute descendent."

Syaoran scowled at Eriol Hiiragizawa.

"If you don't be careful of what you're saying…" Syaoran started, but ended in a groan at the sight of his friend's face. He _hated_ that smile!

Meanwhile, Sakura was still running at full speed down the school corridor, very luckily not banging into anyone.

_Oh what the HELL did you do that for! _She thought to herself furiously. She can't believe herself, she had hugged _him_, Syaoran Li, in front of the whole class, in front of her best friends Eriol and…oh no - her heart sank - in front of _Tomoyo._

"Sakura!" cried a panting Tomoyo Daidouji. "Wait…up…"

Sakura stopped and leaned against the cool wall, breathing heavily._ Speak of thedevil._She looked behind her, making sure that Tomoyo had no video camera in her hands. She sweat dropped as she saw her friend video taping her with stars in her eyes.

"That. Was. So. KAWAII!" squealed Tomoyo, ignoring her friend's annoyed face.

"Do you think you could do that again, Sakura? Just make it a longer hug than the last one and maybe I'll even make you a ball gown along with a tuxedo for Syaoran -"

Tomoyo gulped, for Sakura had just shot her a death glare. Oh if looks could kill…

Tomoyo coughed.

"Okay, enough of that. So dear cousin, why did you hug him?"

Sakura looked down at her feet, her face bright red again. "I…don't know…just…happy…didn't…think…" she mumbled so quietly Tomoyo had to step closer to her to be able to hear correctly.

"Ok, so you were happy that he was staying, and so you hugged him, simple as that. No need to get so embarrassed."

"Oh that's easy for _you_ to say, you didn't do it!" groaned Sakura, burying her face in her hands. "He'll probably _hate_ me now for embarrassing him in front of the whole class!"

Tomoyo shrugged. "He likes you too much to _hate_ you."

Sakura's head shot up. "What did you say?"

Tomoyo looked at her with a funny look on her face. "You didn't know he likes you?"

"Well yea, but I thought…more of a…friend…way…"

"Oh god Sakura, he even _told_ you he likes you when we were in primary." Tomoyo said, throwing her hands in the air.

"I know but that was primary, we're 16 now, how was I supposed to know he _still_ liked me? A lot can happen in 5 years."

"Okay let me tell you one thing. _He still likes you_. Everybody knows it." said Tomoyo, smiling. She wasn't surprised if Syaoran had chosen to stay here because of her friend in the first place.

Sakura's face lit up slowly. So maybe…just maybe…there was a chance they could be together…?

"Oh quit daydreaming." cried Tomoyo, trying to sound annoyed but failed as her face split into a grin. "Let's head back, class is about to start."

And the long haired girl pulled her reluctant friend back to the classroom.

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For those of you who have read the other version, you'll know that I've changed this chappy a bit. Heh, all the chappies may be changed a little so spare me if you like the other version better! Anyway, please RR!


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"We have a new student today." Announced the teacher as Sakura and Tomoyo slipped into their seats. "His name is Chris Chan and since he joined us ¾ of the way through the time, I ask you all to help him as best as you can. He will be sitting next to Sakura." The teacher nodded his head at the spare seat.

All the girls except Tomoyo and Sakura started to giggle nervously as a handsome boy walked into the classroom. He had untidy black hair and blood red eyes that seemed to see right through you. He smiled a mysterious smile and nodded his head at them, mainly at the girls. The girls all sighed as he said, "Hello my name is Chris Chan, pleased to meet you."

"Take the spare seat next to Sakura, Chris." Said the teacher.

Chris nodded his head and began moving towards his seat, his eyes on the brown haired girl all the time. Sakura felt a bit uneasy as he stared at her, those red eyes seemed to fill with hunger and it frightened her, but she smiled all the same.

Syaoran's face began to go red with fury as he saw Sakura smile at the new boy. Eriol smirked next to him.

"Hi Sakura, can I walk home with you? I found out that I live quite close to you" asked Chris shyly. It had been a week since Chris had first come to their school. He had become quite popular among the girls. Sakura smiled and agreed. He wasn't too bad, she thought, as long as you get used to his eyes. He was quite nice actually and was very smart. The only problem was, whenever Syaoran tried talking to her or vice versa, Chris always seems to be there to drag her away. This didn't bother her too much, she knew that Chris liked her, and he would obviously try to make her pay more attention to him, right?

Syaoran fumed as he saw Sakura walking together with 'the new boy', as he called it. He refused to address him by his name. Eriol nudged him and whispered, "If you don't go for it my cute descendent, she'll be taken!"

Syaoran aimed a kick at his legs but his friend was too fast for him. Eriol laughed and said, "I'll meet you later, I'm having afternoon tea with Tomoyo." And ran towards the dark haired girl who was waving at him.

The browned haired boykicked a pebble and decided to follow Sakura and the boy; he thought the boy was extremely untrustworthy. He followed at quite a distance; he didn't want to be seen. Sakura and the boy were chatting normally for half way, when the boy suddenly steered her off course. They were now heading for the alleyway where they put the trash. Confused, he started to follow but was stopped by two girls who were asking him the way to the Cinema. Annoyed, he began to give them the route to it.

Sakura felt uneasy, where was he taking her? "Um…Chris? Where are we going? I mean..._what _are we doing?" she panted as he dragged her along deeper into the alley.

Silence.

"Chris, you're scaring me, tell me, what's going on -"

She was then flung against a wall. Her breath caught in her throat and she shut her eyes tight as she felt her head make contact with the wall so forcefully. Wincing, she slowly opened her eyes, staring straight into a pair of red, menacing pupils.

"I've been planning this all week, oh dear Sakura-sama." He whispered casually as his fingers stroked her shivering neck. "I promise you won't be disappointed."

Her eyes widened at the realisation of what was going on, what was going to happen. Her fingers fumbling for the star-key that was almost un-used for almost 5 years, threw back her head and screamed.

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Heh..i finally updated... :P well thats the new chappie for this version 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Syaoran heard the scream and stopped dead in his tracks. That voice was unpleasantly familiar…

He took off in full speed towards the voice, hoping desperately that the girl was alright, he would kill himself if she wasn't…

He spun around the corner and stopped. His blood stopped as he saw the girl cowering underneath a boy whom had seemed so nice, so _innocent_.

Anger swelled up through his whole body as he raced towards the two figures, drawing his sword as he ran.

He yelled a war cry and crashed against the black haired boy and they tumbled to the ground. Raising his sword high above him, he prepared to plunge it mercilessly into the heart of the wide-eyed boy who, was now too shocked to react, only to be stopped by a horrified voice behind him.

"Oh my god…Syaoran no! Leave him! Don't…don't kill him…!"

Syaoran kept the sword steady and turned slowly around, not fully taking his eyes of the boy that he was pinning to the ground.

"He was…he was going to…he…"

"If you kill him…then…you'll be turned into a murderer! Please…don't…just leave him…please?"

Syaoran was speechless.

"You heard the girl." Sneered a voice.

Syaoran glared at the boy and grabbed his shirt collar. "I'm telling you…don't think I can't kill you…if it wasn't…you just watch your back from now on I'm telling you!" he whispered coldly. He spun the sword around so the hilt was facing the boy's face, brought it down hard, knocking the boy unconsciousness.

Syaoran walked over to Sakura, took of his cloak and wrapped it around her. She shivered as she felt the fabric touching her. Syaoran felt awkward and felt even more so when tears ran down Sakura's face. He didn't know what to do. Then without thinking, he took her in his arms. Sakura stopped crying abruptly, taken by surprise.

"I won't let anybody hurt you again. I promise." Whispered Syaoran.

Sakura didn't say anything, she just buried her face into his shoulder as fresh tears came leaking out again. Syaoran hugged onto her tightly, he didn't want to let go. After a few minutes, when no sound was coming from Sakura, he realised she had fallen asleep right in his arms. Smiling softly, he lifted her up. She felt so light and vulnerable; it was as if she would just float away if he let her go. He vowed to himself that he would never let go, ever. Kicking Chris one last time, he lifted Sakura up and headed towards his house.

Sakura opened her eyes slowly. Her head seemed like it was about to explode. Wincing, she glanced around the room that was unknown to her. Rubbing her forehead, she tried to get up but as soon as she did, she felt dizzy and immediately fell back down. It must have been because of the way her head was banged against the wall…

Her mouth felt very dry, how long had she been asleep? She heard a door open, and then rushing footsteps.

"Sakura! You're awake!" cried a familiar voice. She peered through squinted eyes and saw a dark haired girl with a concerned face looking back down at her.

"Tomoyo…" she said weakly and tried to force a smile.

She was shocked to see small trickles of tears sliding down her friend's face.

"Oh no, please Tomoyo, don't cry, I'm fine now, really." She tried sitting up again but the effort almost made her pass out.

"Here, I'll help you." Said a male voice and she realised Syaoran was sitting next to her. He helped her sit up and put his arm around her shoulders. It was immensely comfortable, having something warm wrapped around herself.

Tomoyo gave a weak giggle. "You've found yourself a boyfriend Sakura. Oh how I wish I have my video camera, I'd _love_ to video tape you two."

If she was able to, Sakura would surely have kicked her.

"Yes, and my cute little decedent has just won himself a _girl_friend." Said a grinning midnight blue haired boy, coming towards them.

"Watch it Hiiragizawa." Growled Syaoran.

"How long have I been sleeping anyway?" asked Sakura, changing the subject.

"Long enough for you to miss dinner." Answered Eriol simply.

"Oh no!" Sakura squeaked.

" Yes I know, the most_ terrible _thing that can ever happen. Think of it, no delicious food to sustain you through a whole night of -" started Eriol.

"I better go home then, my dad will be worrying. And Touya…oh you know him. He'll be turning over dustbins looking for me now." groaned Sakura, ignoring Eriol's comment.

Tomoyo smiled and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, I phoned your dad saying you're staying at my place for the night. Its Friday night remember? He said it was fine."

Sakura's face broke into a relieved smile, she was glad that Tomoyo didn't tell her dad about what happened; she didn't want them to worry. "Cool. Uh…who's house am I in now…?"

Eriol's face broke into an evil grin. "Syaoran's, the bed you're sleeping in is his." He had to duck out of sight as a flying pillow skimmed through his blue hair.

Sakura's face turned tomato red at the unexpected news.

"I…well…uh…shouldn't I be moving over to Tomoyo's then…?" mumbled Sakura.

"We're in no hurry." Grinned Tomoyo. "Actually, Eriol suggested quite a good idea. We could stay over at Syaoran's for the night."

Sakura blinked.

"And if you don't mind me saying Sakura, I don't think you're very fit for travelling at this stage." She said seriously.

Sakura sighed. "Fine." She mumbled, admitting defeat.

Eriol punched his fist into the air triumphantly. "Pillow fight! Oh lets go rent a movie, a _ghost _one at that, it'll be faaaaantastic!"

Syaoran rolled his eyes and Sakura shuddered, she was absolutely _terrified_ of ghosts. "I don't think I'll be able to do anything at this stage though." She pointed at her head, half relieved, half miserable.

"No worries." Grinned Eriol. "I've got the perfect spell worked out. Now give me your head."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. _What a very nice way to put it_. She thought, rolling her eyes. Eriol touched her forehead with two fingers and muttered something under his breath. Sakura felt a warm sensation flowing through her body and closed her eyes sleepily. She fell into unconsciousness.

Syaoran stared at the unconscious girl in his arms. "You killed her?" he joked.

"Don't say such a thing." Snapped Eriol. "She's just recovering."

After a moment or two, Sakura's eyes flapped open.

"Huh?" she said. She sat up. Then she jumped off the bed and began walking around. Smiling at her three friends, she said, "Hey thanks Eriol! I feel great now!" then, grinning at her friend's awestruck faces, asked Syaoran, "Where's the living room?" Syaoran, who still hadn't recovered from the shock, pointed to his left. Laughing, Sakura shouted, "Last one there has to go get the movie!" and began racing towards the living room.

Eriol, Tomoyo and Syaoran stared at the spot where she was standing just a few seconds ago. Their gaze turned to each other, then, grinning, all sprinted down the corridor.

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Obviously, i had to change a bit in this chap since it was the main reason my story got removed last time...sigh such a pain :P anyway, thats that! please RR! and do tell me if i made any mistakes... 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It turned out that Tomoyo was the last one to get there, but Eriol volunteered to go with her. So in the end, Syaoran and Sakura were left sitting on the couch nervously

"Uh…Syaoran?" asked Sakura uncertainly.

"Mmm?" came his reply.

"How…how did you know I was…you know…"

"Oh…I uh…" he coughed. "Well see, I kind of…followed you…because…well I thought he was extremely untrustworthy."

Sakura smiled. "Surprise surprise."

Syaoran went blushed.

"What happened to…him?" she asked again.

"I left him there, somebody will find him. It's not exactly hard to miss, considering the fact that I left he door wide open." He replied.

"Oh…anyhow, arigatoo."

Syaoran nodded.

"I really don't know what would happen if…if you weren't…" she broke off. Syaoran was surprised that her eyes had gone watery again. He touched her hand gently and she jumped. Syaoran knew, even though she seemed to be all happy and cheerful, deep down inside her there was a scar that would never heal. Anger swelled up inside him. That boy had done this to her, he was going to make him pay.

"Syaoran?" said Sakura again.

"Hai?"

"Do you know why locking pinkies is a sign of promise?"

Syaoran shook his head, surprised.

Sakura smiled, "My mother told me when I was little…I don't know why that particular one is still stuck in my head…she told me heaps…probably because it had an actual meaning..." she shrugged.

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, I'd like to know."

Sakura nodded and began the story (A/N: which is the same one as the one in the prologue, I'll save us some time and won't post it again).

"And that is why locking pinkies is a sign of promise." Finished Sakura.

Syaoran nodded thoughtfully. "It's…nice." He said.

Sakura laughed.

After that was an awkward silence and Sakura, finally breaking it, jumped up and said, "Let's make popcorn."

"Do you think Sakura's really alright?" said a worried Tomoyo.

Eriol shrugged. "It was a big shock…probably…not."

Tomoyo blinked at him.

"She's strong, but there will be times when she will be depressed. Hopefully it'll wear off after a while." He said grimly.

They walked in silence for a while, the DVD _Sixth Sense_ was clutched in Eriol's hand. Tomoyo sighed. She wanted to help her friend so much, but she didn't know how.

Eriol smiled and said, "Don't worry, Syaoran will look after her. I bet you he'll never let her out of his sight from now on. And I mean that."

Tomoyo laughed softly and leaned against him.

"What's with that?" asked Eriol, amused.

Tomoyo shrugged. She felt very alone for a moment. Eriol seemed to sense this and put his arm around her.

"She'll be fine. You'll have your friend back in no time" He whispered comfortingly as he kissed her forehead. Tomoyo nodded worryingly.

"Funny, I didn't know we had microwave popcorn." Said Syaoran, puzzled.

"You've never _made_ microwave popcorn either I presume?" Sakura asked suspiciously as he watched him wrestle with the popcorn bag.

"Uh…to be truthful…no I haven't." he said, still struggling.

"Look, maybe I should do it." Said Sakura, laughing.  
Within minutes, the smell of fresh popcorn washed over the kitchen. Sakura licked her lips as she started taking out soft drinks from the fridge.

"Bet you five dollars I can make this do 5 flips in the air and then catching it with my teeth?" Said Syaoran. Sakura spun around and found him playing with a small kitchen knife.

"Watch it, you don't want to…" she was cut off by a yelp from Syaoran.

"Uh…cut yourself."

Struggling not to laugh, she went over to Syaoran and saw that his finger was slit open, blood was leaking out.

"You know, you'd have lost five dollars." Sakura said, raising an eyebrow.

Syaoran grinned. "I knew you wouldn't accept the bet."

"Keep it over the sink, I'll try find a plaster." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes mad'm!" Syaoran saluted with his uninjured hand.

"I think we should wash it first, it might get infected." Sakura said, examining the cut after coming back with a small box of plasters.

"Mmm…" said Syaoran, who was paying no attention to the cut whatsoever. His eyes, instead, were fixed on the brown haired girl next to him.

Sakura took his finger and ran it under the water (Li yelped at the sudden coldness and splashed water everywhere) then, using a small cloth to mop it dry, wrapped a bandage around it.

"Next time you better be more care…gah!"

She had slipped because of the puddle of water she had unfortunately (A.N. or some would say, fortunately ) stepped on.

Because of Syaoran's quick reflexes, he caught hold of her hand before she hit the ground and pulled her towards him. Laughing, he said, "I think _you_ should be the one being more care…" he stopped. They were now so close they were almost nose to nose. Sakura finally noticed that he had dark amber eyes; she had never looked at them closely. She felt her insides melt at the sight of them.

Syaoran stared at the girl in his arms, unblinking. Her eyes were emerald green and they were _beautiful_. His gaze moved towards her lips. He brought his head forward and so did Sakura. Their eyes started closing as their lips moved closer and closer. They felt their lips brush one another and then –

"We're baaaack!" cried Eriol's voice from the door. Both of their eyes sprang open. Syaoran cursed and stepped back, taking his arms away which meant that Sakura was practically hanging in mid-air.

"Ooo I love pop…whoa Sakura watch it!" Eriol ran forward and seized her, pulling her towards _him_ this time. Sakura still hadn't quite recovered from the shock and was leaning against him in such a way that made it look very suspicious.

"What happened?" said Tomoyo who was coming into the kitchen. Eriol gulped as he felt both his girlfriend's and best friend's glare on him.

"Uh…well…you'll be…uh…fine now." and he let go immediately, casting a sheepish grin at Tomoyo, who was tapping her foot, her arms crossed.

Sakura started laughing hard.

"Uh…Sakura? Do you mind letting go of my arm?" said a pained Syaoran. Sakura's nails were digging into his skin. Sakura looked at his arm, then at him, then at his arm again.

"Oh!" she said, surprised and took her hand away. "Sorry."

They were watching _Sixth Sense_ and it was scaring the wits out of her. Eriol smirked and said, "More popcorn?"

"Oh, right, thanks."

And from time to time, when it got to the scary bits, Sakura would seize Syaoran's arm and dig her nails into his skin, causing him to wince painfully. Eriol mouthed "More popcorn?" to Syaoran, grinning. And Syaoran would mouth back, "More soda?" when Eriol's arm was twisted painfully by Tomoyo, who, although was not as afraid of ghosts as Sakura, was still frightened.

When the movie finally finished, Sakura was shivering madly. Syaoran checked his watch: 10:07pm.

"We'll we've got quite a while before bed, any ideas for what we should do now?" he asked. He groaned at the sight of Eriol's smile.

"What?" he said.

Eriol's smile widened.

"What?" he said more loudly.

Grabbing a pillow, he began hitting Syaoran hard on the head. "Pillow fight!" he bellowed and started chasing everybody around. Laughing and squealing, they all seized a pillow from every bed of the house and began chasing each other with them. In these few happy hours, Sakura had completely forgotten the incident that happened in the afternoon.

* * *

Well thats that! Haven't changed much in this one...none actually...anyway, hope you liked it! 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"1:38am. Bed." Yawned Syaoran sleepily. They didn't need telling, he and Eriol were the only ones awake. Tomoyo and Sakura were leaning against each other, already sleeping soundly. Smiling, Syaoran and Eriol carried them up to their rooms and laid them down on the beds. Syaoran brushed a stray hair out of Sakura's face. She looked like an angel; sleeping peacefully, a smile planted on her beautiful face. A few moments later, when he had nearly fallen on top of her because of sleepiness, he moved to his own room and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

_She was running as fast as she could, but she didn't seem to be able to go anywhere. Her legs were so tired, so tired, but she couldn't stop. If she did, he'll get her. And he'll hurt her even more than before. _

_She screamed as she felt his cold hand on her shoulder. He spun her around and she stared at those blood red eyes…she felt herself falling into them, falling…falling…_

_She screamed._

"Oh god, Sakura, wake up, wake up!" someone yelled desperately.

Sakura's eyes sprang open. A cold hungry face was staring back at her. She screamed again and struggled as two hands grabbed her and shook her slightly.

"Sakura! It's me! Snap out of it!" cried a familiar voice.

But a menacing laugh filled her head. She started sobbing. "Help…someone…help…!" and the laugh suddenly stopped as if it was never there before. She was being held so tightly, but not tightly enough so to crush her arms.

"I'm here…I'm here…it's alright now, just a dream, just a stupid damned dream…" whispered a comforting voice in the dark.

"Syaoran…?" she whimpered quietly.

"I'm here…it's alright…"

They stayed in silence for a moment, until Sakura realised that he was crying.

"Syaoran? You're crying."

He wiped his face on his sleeve and said, "I was so scared…you…you were shouting and yelling…"

"I'm sorry…did I wake everybody up…?"

"Only me. Eriol and Tomoyo are still asleep."

"Oh…good."

Silence.

"He was…he was chasing me…I couldn't get away, I was falling into this black pit…I couldn't…I…" she trailed off. She felt it was important to tell him that, to explain why she was screaming...

Syaoran patted her back and whispered comforting words to her.

A while later, Li said, "Its still 4am, want to go back to sleep now?"

She nodded uncertainly. He smiled and patted her on the head. He was at the door when she said, "Syaoran?"

"Yea?"

Blushing, she said, "Can you sleep with me tonight?"

Syaoran stared at her.

"No it's just…I was scared and…it's alright, I know I shouldn't…"

Syaoran looked immensely amused. He slipped uncertainly under the covers and lay next to her.

"Won't hurt would it? Besides, if you start shouting again, it just MIGHT wake Eriol and Tomoyo up and…uh…trust me, you don't want to be around an angry Hiiragizawa."

Sakura giggled nervously.

"Sleep now."

And she did, without a single dream disturbing her.

She opened her eyes slowly and the face of a chestnut haired boy swam into view. She giggled softly. He looked so cute when he was sleeping.

Syaoran opened one eye.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Sakura whispered, slightly red.

"Mmm…"

Yawning he stretched and said, "11am."

Rubbing her eyes, she said, "You always have a way of knowing the time don't you…and what's for breakfast?"

"Mmm…how about…pancakes."

Licking her lips, she said, "Who's making them?"

Syaoran thought for a moment, and a grin spread across his face. "Let's say, whoever loses this game of mine will have to do it."

"What game?" Sakura asked curiously.

Grinning from ear to ear, he said, "Sakura, are you ticklish?"

"Uh, ye…oh no, don't tell me…!"

Laughing, he started tickling her neck and tummy. Giggling madly, she tried to fight back but Syaoran didn't seem to be ticklish at all.

Within minutes she was laughing so hard her tummy hurt and Syaoran was on top of her, still tickling her neck.

"Syaoran …giggle stop…" laughing hard, and his hands accidentally slipped under her shirt. The nightmare of the previous night filled her mind. Her breath got caught in her throat.

Syaoran noticed this and got off her quickly.

"Sorry." He mumbled. "I'll make the pancakes." And he hurried out of the room.

_Idiot._ He thought to himself furiously. Absolutely _idiotic_. She'll probably stop trusting you now you stupid _git._

"I smell pancakes." Yawned Eriol, rubbing his eyes. He licked his lips hungrily as Syaoran brought out plates filled of pancakes. Syaoran laughed at the sight of his face and said, "Don't eat so fast, you'll choke." He pointed out as Eriol began coughing.

"Where's Tomoyo?" he asked

"Still sleepin."

"Well you tell her to help herself when she awakes; I'm going to take a shower." And he walked towards his room.

"Mmhp" muffled Eriol from the kitchen.

"What?" cried Syaoran, picking up his trousers and walking to the bathroom, his hand reaching out for the door knob.

"Sakura's…!"

But it was too late. Syaoran turned the knob and swung the door wide open. The shock of what met his eyes nearly knocked him off his feet.

Sakura was standing there, half naked, with a towel around her upper body. It only went down to her upper thigh, her arms and shoulders bare, her long legs completely open to his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, and then a scream filled the whole house.

"Gomen!" yelled Syaoran above the scream as he fled out of the bathroom and he slammed the door behind him. "Gomen nasaii!"

His face fire red with embarrassment, he ran towards the kitchen and yelled furiously, "HIIRAGIZAWA!"

"What?" Eriol said innocently.

"Why didn't you tell me she was in the shower!" Syaoran yelled.

"I tried, but the pancakes were choking me." He said defensively.

Syaoran felt the blood rushing up to his face and groaned. What was she going to think of him now?

"Eh…Syaoran? You might want to grab a tissue."

"Yea, to stuff it in that big fat mouth of yours -"

Eriol grinned. "One, I wouldn't let you, and second, your nose is bleeding so I suggest you stick it up that first."

Syaoran grabbed a tissue to block his nose.

"Hot eh?" Eriol teased.

Syaoran glared at him.

* * *

I've always liked this chapt...even though I was being a bit mean to Sakura... :Pbut yeeeaa. RR 


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Sakura, I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean to, seriously, I'm really sorry and -"

But Sakura cut him off with a wave of her hand. Smiling, she said, "You've apologized for hundreds of times already, I know it's not your fault, so shut it and start eating."

They were at a Japanese restaurant, about to eat lunch. Afterwards, they'll be going back to Sakura's house to drop her off then go back separately to their own houses.

"Mmm…Teriyaki Chicken…excellent." Said Eriol.

Laughing, they all dug in to their lunch.

"Dad! I'm home!" cried Sakura from the door.

Touya was the first to the door. He spotted Syaoran and his body tensed.

"What's that kid doing there?" he demanded.

"Oh let it off will you brother, he was staying over at Tomoyo's as well." And she regretted saying that instantly.

"He WHAT? Are you CRAZY Sakura!" he yelled and pushed past her. He was no longer that much taller than Syaoran, because Syaoran, at 16, had matured greatly and their height difference was barely a centimetre away. They glared at each other coldly.

"If I hear that you've been messing with my sister…" whispered Touya dangerously.

Sakura rolled her eyes and began pulling at his arm. "He didn't do _anything_ Touya, now leave him alone and get back into the house."

His eyes widening, Touya cried, "You're _defending _for him?"

"Yes I am. Now _move._" She urged.

Mouthing a sorry to Syaoran, she hugged Tomoyo, said goodbye to the two boys, ran into the house and closed the door behind her. Her friends sweat dropped.

"Kero, guess what?" she said happily as she got into her room.

An orange bear-like creature flew towards her and said, "What?"

"We stayed Syaoran's house last night, that's why I didn't come back. It was so _fun_ and we watched the Sixth Sense and it was so _freaky_ and Syaoran cut himself with a kitchen knife and -"

She stopped, blushing furiously.

Kero raised an eyebrow. "And what?"

"Uh…never mind." She mumbled.

Amused, Kero said, "So why were you exactly at his house anyway? You could've at least come home to fetch me. I would've enjoyed the popcorn."

"I was…because…" but she didn't know how to tell him. She took a deep breath and said, "Because I was…uh…well…you know Chris? Well, he kind of…cornered me and…he nearly…r…r…" she couldn't make herself say the word. Thankfully, Kero caught on. His little face filled with anger, he cried, "He RAP -"

"Hush! What if my dad and Touya heard you?" Sakura hissed.

"But…ok. So are you alright? Are you hurt? Did they take you to the hospital? What did the doctor say?" and he began firing questions at her.

"Stop and listen. Well…they didn't take me to the hospital…that's because I didn't _exactly_…you know. I mean, I still had my uniform on and all…well let's not get into the details. So Syaoran came to rescue me, and I fell into unconsciousness because of I hit my head on the wall, and he took me to his house, and he rung Eriol and Tomoyo, and yes that's about it." She finished, taking a deep breath. She felt what Kero didn't know wouldn't hurt him and she flushed at the thought of sleeping in the same bed with Syaoran Li…

_A cold laugh rang in her ears._

"_Sakura…no please…come back…" _

_Somebody was calling her name, they were shaking her, why did they sound so sad?_

_Sakura looked down and gasped when she saw herself lying in Syaoran's arms. Eriol and Tomoyo were crowding around, their eyes shining with tears. _

_What was happening? She was here…then who was down there? _

_She descended and tried to get Syaoran to look at her. _

"_Um...Syaoran? Who are you talking to? Syaoran?" she called out. But he ignored her. He was still holding onto the body of the girl._

_Confused, she looked down at the girl in his arms. Her eyes were closed. She was pale, extremely pale, too pale. _

_She cried out in horror as realisation hit her. She was…dead?_

Sakura woke up with a start, drenched in cold sweat. What was that all about? She ran a hand through her hair. Was she really dead? What had happened to her? Why was she…she shook her head in; it was just a dream, she told herself firmly. She checked the clock: 6:03. Knowing that she couldn't possibly go back to sleep, she decided to take a shower before breakfast. Stretching, she got out of bed and, still pondering about the dream, got into the bathroom.

* * *

Ehehehe, thats that chappie. please RR 


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"You were dead." Eriol said blankly.

"Uh-huh." Nodded Sakura.

She had told Eriol as soon as she got to school. She had told Kero as well but she was running late before he could give her an answer.

"I'll look it up after school. I think the teacher's coming." Eriol nodded to the footsteps echoing from the corridor.

But it wasn't the teacher. It was Chris.

Sakura tensed and heard Syaoran hiss from somewhere behind her. Chris, spotting them, sneered and began walking towards his seat.

"Hello my dear Sakura." He whispered in her ear. She shivered and kept her eyes up the front.

"I've missed you. Why did you leave? I was having so much fun."

Ignore him…ignore him…she thought to herself. He's just making fun of you, get a grip…she couldn't believe it, that this boy who was so nice and shy, who she had thought was her friend was actually nothing more than a big-headed pervert…

He grabbed her wrist and whispered more menacingly, "Your little boyfriend won't be able to stop me now; he's nothing but a weakling to me."

She spun around and glared at him, how dare he talk about Syaoran like that after what happened?

A sneer spread across his face and he was about to say more when the teacher came in through the door.

"I'll deal with you later." He said, letting go of her.

Shaking with anger, she began to concentrate on what the teacher was saying.

After school, she hurried to the locker so she could meet up with Tomoyo and the others as quickly as possible. She slammed her locker shut and she started running down the corridor. And without looking where she was going, she banged into someone.

"Sorry -" she began to say but stopped short. It was Chris. He smiled widely and grabbed her hand before she could run away again.

"Is that all I get? Just sorry? I was expecting a kiss at least…" and he pulled her closer to him. She couldn't move; she felt hypnotised. Those hungry red eyes were sucking her into them -

"Just what, do you think you're doing." demanded a cold voice.

Snapping out of the trance, Sakura came to her senses and wriggled out of his grasp, stepping behind Syaoran.

Chris's face was now red with anger. Then, gathering himself up, he calmed down and said, "Why I was merely having a talk with Sakura. Until_ you_ interrupted of course, very rude I would say."

"Well I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse us, Sakura and I are about to have tea." He stepped towards him and whispered dangerously, "If you lay one finger on her, _Chan_, you'll have _me_ to deal with."

Chris just smiled, his eyes gleaming.

Pulling on his arm, Sakura urged, "Let's go Syaoran, come _on_."

Glaring at Chris, Syaoran took her hand and they walked past him.

Chris smirked. They were so stupid, they had no idea what he had become, he would be able to squash them with just two fingers. I have to thank you too, Li. If you hadn't left me there…He shook his had. He wasn't in a hurry, he'll play with them for a while, but he felt immensely satisfied that the first part of his plan had worked reasonably well...

Syaoran became aware that he was holding onto Sakura's hand the whole time and, blushing, let go of it quickly. There was an awkward silence as they walked out the school.

Syaoran took a deep breath and said, "You better be careful of him, we don't know what he's up to."

Sakura nodded and sighed. She couldn't use magic in front of Chris; it was too risky, Syaoran and the others won't always be there beside her, so how could she defend herself? Then an idea hit her.

"Syaoran…" she grabbed his arm, her face full with excitement. Syaoran raised an eyebrow. She looked at him, her emerald eyes sparkling. "Teach me martial arts."

* * *

Wheee sorry. feeling bit high right now. Anyway, thats that chappie, RR please and straight on to the next chap!


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Are you sure about this?" asked Syaoran.

It had been two days since Sakura thought of learning martial arts. Syaoran had followed her everywhere since her encounter with Chris and it was starting to annoy her, so she rang him that night and they organised to start training the next afternoon after school.

Sakura nodded eagerly. "I asked Tomoyo too, she'll be coming any minute now."

Syaoran rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I've never been much of a teacher…however…"

"Sakura! Syaoran!" cried a voice. They turned around to see Tomoyo running towards them, waving her arms. Walking calmly behind her was Eriol and Syaoran groaned at the sight of him. Sakura punched him warningly on the arm.

Breathless, Tomoyo stood next to them, jumping up and down. "Maybe if I learn martial arts, I'll be able convince mother that I don't need bodyguards following me everywhere I go." She gestured towards two women dressed in black.

"And why exactly are you here Eriol?" asked Syaoran wearily.

"Why my cute little descendant, I thought it would have been quite obvious. My dear Tomoyo spending a whole afternoon with a boy other than me? You have got to be joking." he answered, smiling his famous smile.

Syaoran rolled his eyes as Tomoyo giggled and punched the midnight haired boy's arm playfully.

"Hey Eriol, don't you know martial arts?" asked Sakura suddenly.

Eriol looked quite surprised at the question. "Yes I do as a matter of fact. Why?"

"Well…" said Sakura slowly. "Maybe you could teach Tomoyo while Syaoran will teach me. It would be faster and easier to handle wouldn't it?"

And they all agreed to that idea.

"Sakura, your back isn't straight enough. Look." And Syaoran positioned himself into a stance. Sakura concentrated and forced herself to make her back straighter.

"Here."

Syaoran put his hand on her back and shoulder, pushing lightly against it so to make it straighter.

"Hey I think I've got it!" cried Sakura happily. Then she lost her balance and fell onto the grass, dazed. Syaoran struggled not to laugh but he couldn't help it. He was now laughing so hard he was clutching his chest. Sakura pouted and jumped up, aiming a kick at him but he was too fast and jumped back a few paces. Her eyes gleaming, she did a cartwheel unexpectedly, landed in front of him and then kicked him hard on the chest. Syaoran fell backwards on his back. Sakura punched her fist into the air with triumph.

"I knew cheerleading would come in handy someday!" she said enthusiastically.

"Oh you two are so kawaii!" cooed a voice. Tomoyo ran up to them, a video camera in her hand; she began taping, causing her two friends to sweat drop.

"Ah my cute little descendant, what am I supposed to tell your mother now? Oh the shame…" laughed Eriol, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

Syaoran jumped up and stood in fighting position, a grin on his face. He whispered, "Come and get me then if you're so good."

Eriol smiled and he too, prepared to fight. "Bring it on little wolf."

Sakura and Tomoyo stepped back to watch the show. There was fire burning in the two boys' eyes. They circled each other, giving their opponents calculating looks. Syaoran was the first to strike; he slid over as sleek as a cat, trying to trip Eriol but he jumped high then crouched down right in front of Syaoran. His arm shot up, his fist nearly making contact with Syaoran's chin but Syaoran did a backwards somersault and landed a few feet away from Eriol. Eriol sprinted then jumped, landing behind Syaoran, taking him by surprise. Seeing his chance, Eriol pivoted, swung his leg up and kicked Syaoran on the back, making him fall headfirst onto the grass. Syaoran did a forward roll and jumped up, panting. Smirking, Eriol straightened up and said, "Still want another round?"

Without giving an answer, Syaoran charged at the midnight haired boy, pinning him to the ground.

"I win." Syaoran said in a sing-song voice.

Growling, Eriol tried kicking Syaoran off him but he wouldn't budge. Syaoran grinned and jumped up.

"That didn't count." Eriol said angrily.

"It so did." Syaoran said cheerfully.

"Fine, but whoever loses this one has to give the other a free ice cream." Said Eriol, crossing his arms.

"Uh…fine. I'm going to win anyway."

"Oh yea? We'll just have to wait and see my cute descendant."

And they charged at each other.

"I am NOT going to buy you an ice cream Hiiragizawa." Growled Syaoran in frustration.

"Oh but cute descendant, you agreed that whoever loses have to buy the winner an ice cream." Eriol said grinning.

"I will NOT, and will NEVER buy you an ice cream." Said Syaoran stubbornly.

Laughing, Sakura said, "Let's all go to my house then, there are plenty of ice creams in the fridge."

"Now SHE'S being reasonable." Syaoran said, glaring at Eriol.

"Ok fine, but Syaoran has to serve them." Said Eriol, his eyes twinkling. "And I get the most, along with chocolate sauce, hundreds and thousands…" he began counting off ingredients.

Syaoran groaned. He looked at Sakura with puppy eyes but she just shrugged.

"You did agree."

"Oh I haven't been taping for so long! Syaoran, why don't you hold Sakura's hand? You two make such a perfect couple!" Tomoyo sighed.

Both Sakura and Syaoran blushed furiously. Sakura made a grab for Tomoyo's camera but missed. Laughing, Tomoyo sprinted at full speed towards Sakura's house, Sakura chasing after her.

"Tomoyo-sama!" cried her bodyguards as they rushed after their mistress.

Eriol and Syaoran stared after them. They walked in silence for a moment, until Eriol broke it by saying, "Syaoran, watch out for Sakura."

Syaoran snorted. "What do you think I've been doing this week?"

"No I mean it." Eriol stopped walking and stared right into Syaoran's eyes. "That dream she had, it…it might come true."

Syaoran stared back into Eriol's eyes and whispered, "It won't; I'll make sure of it."

Eriol studied his friend's face. He couldn't bear to tell him, to tell him that Sakura had made a prediction, a prediction that she would fall into Syaoran Li's arms, and will never wake up.

Eriol nodded slowly and continued walking. He'll just have to watch Sakura more even closer than before.

* * *

Ehehehe...i'm not exactly good at describing fighting scenes...anyway, thats that one! please RR! 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"This is excellent! 2 more days until holidays!" whooped Syaoran when they were eating lunch at school.

"Ah cute descendant, yes it is very great. But have you forgotten about the School Ball? Who are you taking eh?" smirked Eriol

Syaoran's broad grin suddenly faded. In its place was an expression of pure horror. He couldn't believe it, how could he have forgotten? The School Ball was being held in the holidays…these holidays…well he already knew who he was asking, Sakura of course, but to actually _ask _her…

Eriol patted Syaoran reassuringly on the back. "Who knows." He said. "Maybe she'll ask you instead."

Syaoran scowled. A girl asks a boy to the ball? Ridiculous.

"Well hurry up then, she's going to be taken." Eriol said with a wink.

"What about you and Tomoyo then? When are _you_ asking her?" Syaoran asked, trying to take Eriol by surprise.

"That, my cute little descendent, will be none of your concern." Eriol said simply.

"Stop calling me that!" growled Syaoran.

"Oh you are just too cute, cute little descendent." Eriol said, ruffling Syaoran's hair as if he was a five year old child.

"Why you…"

But Eriol was saved when Tomoyo said, "There you are, why are you so angry Syaoran? Oh yes, the ball, the ball the ball, its coming up! I can't wait! I've already designed the ball dress for Sakura, she'll look so kawaii in it!" she squealed.

"Please tell me you won't be bringing your camera." Sakura said, rolling her eyes as she sat down on the table.

"I wouldn't, because that would be a lie." Said Tomoyo, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

Sakura groaned.

"Anyway, Sakura, have you decided who to go with yet? To the dance I mean." Asked Tomoyo, grinning.

Sakura felt herself blush and shook her head. Tomoyo nudged Syaoran so hard he fell over.

"What?" he said.

Tomoyo clapped her palm on her forehead. "How dense can you _get!_" she said furiously under her breath so Sakura couldn't hear her.

"Look out." Eriol said suddenly.

Syaoran looked up and immediately knew why. Chris Chan was walking towards them, girls from around giggled and looked at him hopefully.

Syaoran rolled his eyes.

Chris smiled widely as he appeared at their table, looking straight at Sakura.

Sakura shuffled her feet nervously.

"Sakura, may I talk to you alone?" asked Chris in an innocent tone.

"You can talk to her right here _Chan_. In fact, it would be better if you didn't talk at all." Growled Syaoran.

Chris raised his eyebrows. "I'll choose to ignore that. Anyway, Sakura, will you go to the ball with me?"

Sakura stared at him. Who was he kidding? After what had happened, he expected her to agree to that? She glared at him coldly and was about to reject him when their eyes met. Sakura felt dizzy, those eyes, so red, so…hypnotising…

_You will say yes._ Said a voice in the back of her head. She blinked, trying to rid the voice from her mind.

_Say yes. _There was it again. Her eyes went blank, her lips parted and she uttered, "Y-

"No she won't, I'm sorry, Chan, but Syaoran's already asked her. Haven't you Syaoran?" said Eriol loudly.

Sakura blinked and shook her head, trying to clear her mind. What just happened?

"Yes, I have, and Sakura agreed, so back off and leave us in peace." Syaoran said, trying to stop the heat from coming up his face.

"Oh really? I didn't know. How do I know you're not lying?" Chris said testily, his eyes flaming.

"Fine, Syaoran, ask her again." Eriol commanded.

"What!" Syaoran hissed under his breath.

Eriol gave him a look.

"Alright then." Syaoran said, taking a deep breath. "Sakura?"

"Y…yes?" stuttered Sakura, flushing.

"Will…will you go to the ball with me?" Syaoran choked.

Blushing furiously, Sakura said, "Yes. I'll go. You've asked me that already." She added smartly.

"There. You heard her, now leave us alone." Syaoran said smugly.

Chris looked as if he was going to explode. His face was red with anger, his body shaking. Without a word, he stalked out of the cafeteria.

They all let out a sigh of relief. An awkward silence, then, "Sakura? Did you really mean that?" squeaked Syaoran.

Sakura looked at him with surprise. "Did I mean what?"

"Agreeing to be my partner for the ball…" he said, sinking very low in his seat.

"Did _you _mean that?" asked Sakura.

"Well I…"

Eriol kicked him under the table, smiling. Really, Syaoran needed help with girls, desperately.

"I mean, yes! Of course I did!" he finished.

Sakura smiled happily, "Well I meant it too."

"Oh you two are so cute!" said a voice from behind them. Tomoyo had brought her camera to school and were videoing the whole scene.

Sakura and Syaoran sweat dropped. Eriol laughed. "You go girl!" Then he said more softly and seriously, "Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"Don't look into his eyes. Never look into them again."

The rest of them looked at him with surprise.

"Why?" Sakura asked.

Eriol looked at her warningly. "He just hypnotised you. Just then. You were about to say 'yes' weren't you?"

Sakura had no idea what he was talking about. Then memory of the voice came back to her. She put a hand to her mouth. So he was _hypnotising_ her?

"But…how could he do that? I don't remember him knowing magic, and I can't sense anything from he either!" she exclaimed.

"I don't know, he must be really powerful to be able to hide it…just remember; never look him in the eye. If you do it accidentally, use your own magic, block him out."

"But Eriol, if he knows magic, he might be a sorcerer! What if he tries hurting Sakura?" said Tomoyo worriedly.

The image of the dream flashed through Sakura's mind. She gulped.

"We'll just have to be very careful from now on." He said slowly.

Syaoran glanced at Sakura's pale face. He wasn't going to let him hurt her, he had promised, and he would keep it, no matter what it costs.

"Say, Eriol?" Tomoyo said sweetly when lunch had nearly ended. "When are you going to ask me to the ball?"

Eriol raised an eyebrow. "Who said I was going to ask you?"

Sakura gasped, Syaoran mouth shot open and Tomoyo blinked. "Fine." She said coldly and stood up to leave. Eriol caught her arm and laughed. "I was joking! Now little descendant, this is how it's done."

With that, he stood up too and said out loud, "Fellow schoolmates! Here I would ask you all to give me a moment of your time, so you can listen and be living prove to what I am doing now, for I am going to ask Tomoyo Daidouji to the School Ball."

"What are you doing!" Tomoyo hissed as everyone fell silent to watch.

He just smiled and knelt down in front of her. Tomoyo's face shone with embarrassment as she said out of the corner of her mouth, "Get _up_ Hiiragizawa, get up _now!"_

"I will, but first I must ask you a question. Tomoyo, will you go to the ball with me?"

Sakura and Syaoran gaped at him. It seemed like everybody in the cafeteria was holding their breaths.

"Y…yes. I will." Tomoyo said quickly. "Now get _up_."

Eriol grinned and got up. Everybody broke into the applause and whistling and cheering were heard from the crowd. Tomoyo beamed as Eriol hugged her, laughing.

Sakura sighed. "Why can't you be more like Eriol?" she said to Syaoran dreamily.

"What?" he cried, astonished.

Sakura laughed. "Joking, joking."

And they walked out of the cafeteria, people occasionally coming up to pat Eriol on the back, congratulating him and girls would squeal and crowd around Tomoyo, telling her how lucky she was, although there were some throwing her dirty and envious looks.

* * *

Hehe I always loved this chappie anyway, please RR! and on to the next! 


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Tomoyo, how exactly am I supposed to WEAR this?" Sakura cried in frustration.

"Oh give it here." Tomoyo said, rolling her eyes.

The school ball was going to be taking place after an hour, and Sakura was in Tomoyo's house, trying out the finished outfit that Tomoyo had made for her. It was a pale pink dress with a line of white frills crossing diagonally from her waist downwards. Tomoyo helped Sakura put it on, which, took a bit of time because Sakura would not stop squirming or complaining about how much skin it exposes. After finally managing to put it on without any serious injuries, Tomoyo tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stepped back.

The dress fitted Sakura perfectly, her shoulders were bare and the fabric clung to her body, showing how slim she was. It was simple, yet elegant. After constant complaints about the exposed skin from her though, Tomoyo finally found a pair of white gloves that reached up just passed her elbow. It wasn't exactly a pair of gloves, because her palm and fingers weren't covered. The end was cut into a triangle and attached to it was a ring. Sakura slipped the sleeves on, slipped her forefinger into the ring and stepped in front of the mirror to take a look at herself. She had to give Tomoyo credit for the glove.

"Now for your hair!" said Tomoyo happily. Not even bothering to put up a fight, Sakura obediently sat on the stool Tomoyo held out for her.

"You know Sakura, you really should try growing your hair a bit; you can do so much more." Suggested Tomoyo.

Sakura shook her head. "It gets in the way with cheerleading. Besides, I like it this way."

Shrugging, Tomoyo grabbed a brush and started brushing her hair till it shined. Then she used two pale pink ribbons to tie them up stylishly and it matched nicely with her brown hair. After adding some make-up to Sakura's face, Tomoyo stepped back to admire her work.

The make-up was perfect; not too strong because it would make Sakura look like a ghost, the dress was perfect, her hair was perfect, but there seemed to be something missing. She clicked her fingers as she said with delight, "I've got _just_ the thing!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow as Tomoyo rummaged in her drawers, looking for the 'thing'.

"It's here somewhere…I'm positive…" Tomoyo muttered under her breath until –

"Got it!"

And she held up the 'thing' right in front of Sakura's eyes. She gasped in wonder. It was a necklace, dangling from the silver chain was a sparkling emerald green jewel in the shape of a tear drop.

Tomoyo grinned at her friend's reaction. "Let me put it on."

Sakura nodded with wonder and was surprised when the necklace touched her skin. She had expected it to be cold but instead, it felt warm on her bare skin, it almost felt…magical.

Tomoyo clapped her hands together with glee as Sakura stood up and did a twirl. She looked _stunning_.

"Now for me." She said as she held up a silky violet dress. Putting the dress on took much less time than Sakura did with hers. Adding some finishing touch to her hair and face, Tomoyo was ready as well.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang as the two girls stood up, ready to go. A maid rushed to answer the door, revealing one boy wearing a midnight blue suit and another wearing pure black.

Amber eyes widened and Syaoran's mouth fell open as he saw the two girls walking towards him.

Meanwhile, Eriol had kept his cool and reached over to shut his descendant's mouth, stifling a laugh with difficulty.

Sakura blushed madly at Syaoran's reaction and looked down at her feet, making sure she didn't trip over her dress.

Tomoyo skipped slightly towards Eriol and sighed, "Midnight blue suits you so well…"

"Violet suits you even better." Whispered Eriol, smiling as they looked into each other's eyes dreamily.

Unable to stand their obvious flirting, Sakura dragged a protesting Tomoyo out the door and shouted, "To the school we go!"

Syaoran smirked at Eriol's disappointed face, "Tough luck old man."

Eriol simply shrugged.

* * *

Short chappie, and yes i'm TERRIBLE at describing ball dresses and stuff, so spare with me if you can't tell what the dresses and suits look like! anyway, please RR 


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Laughter and music filled their ears as they entered the dimly lit school hall, in which the ball was held. Balloons and ribbons of various colors and shapes decorated the ceiling and walls; it was quite an amazing sight to look at.

Couples were already dancing on the dance floor, making Syaoran flush at the sight. He was, after all, supposed to ask his partner to dance, but the mere thought of it made him shrink back in embarrassment.

Eriol raised an eyebrow at him. "Being the future leader of the Li clan, you sure are shy."

Syaoran scowled. "You show me how it's done then, if you're so good."

Eriol grinned. "Pleasure." He held out a hand for Tomoyo and said, "May I?"

Tomoyo grinned, she was used to Eriol's formal attitude, and she had to admit, it made it extra romantic, and she liked it, in spite of herself. She curtsied and took his hand, they walked onto the dance floor.

A peaceful music began playing as they danced, Sakura sighed dreamily as she saw the couple in each other's arms.

And poor Syaoran was now stuck in the mud. He glanced at Sakura, only to find himself blushing madly and turning away again.

_Take her hand idiot! _Came a voice in his head.

_No way! _Argued another voice.

_Do it! Do it now!_ Said the voice again.

Just as he was about to go crazy, Sakura broke the silence and said, "Uh…want to get drinks?"

Syaoran snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. In his hurry to head towards the drinks table, he tripped. His hands sprang out to catch hold of something to break his fall, and they caught hold of the Fruit Punch bowl. His heart skipped a beat and forced himself to maintain balance, but failed. He landed in the heap on the floor, covered from head to toe in Fruit punch.

It took a while for everything to sink in, realization of what just happened of course, not the punch, it had soaked his clothes quite rapidly. He groaned as he felt at least 50 pairs of eyes staring at him and he realized that the music had stopped.

"Syaoran!" Came a concerned voice. "Are you alright?"

He blinked. Surely he wasn't seeing clearly. What seemed to be an angel dressed in pale pink was running towards him, her hair swayed as she ran, her emerald green eyes so stunning and captivating…he rubbed his eyes quickly and focused on what he was seeing.

Sakura was looking down at him with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Oh…uh…yea…" he looked down at himself. "Ok, maybe not." He admitted.

"Shall we continue playing then?" asked another voice. To his utmost embarrassment, he realized it was his music teacher.

"H…hai!" he stammered as he helped himself up. The teacher nodded curtly and said, "I will ask somebody to clear up the mess, and I suggest you go to the bathroom to clean yourself up before you catch something."

Syaoran couldn't bring himself to answer, he just nodded. Little by little, dancers went back to their dancing as the music started. He sighed. Why must he be so clumsy?

A small giggle broke through his thoughts. Sakura clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself. Syaoran's face was now beetroot red.

"Tsk tsk, what have you done _now_ little descendant?" came the taunting voice Syaoran knew so well.

"Mind you Hiiragizawa, I do _not_ need a lecture right now." He said, glaring daggers at Eriol. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to go to the bathroom." and he pushed passed angry couples towards the bathroom before he could receive anymore teasing.

"Want us to stay with you?" asked Tomoyo.

Sakura shook her head, "You two go on, I'll just stay here."

Tomoyo nodded and she dragged Eriol back onto the dance floor.

Sakura sighed and was about to go take a seat when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, seeing a figure dressed in black, wearing a mask standing behind her.

"May I?" the figure asked, offering a hand.

She giggled. "You _do_ know this isn't a dress-up party?" she asked, taking his hand.

"Yes I do, but that doesn't mean I _can't_ dress up does it?" he said, leading her towards the dancing couples.

"Oh I suppose. What's your name?" Sakura asked as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

The boy smiled. "You won't need to know that, Sakura."

Feeling slightly uncomfortable at his mysterious attitude, Sakura smiled back uncertainly. "How did you know my name?"

"I have my sources." He replied.

Sakura felt really uncomfortable now. It was now that she realized his voice was strangely familiar. His voice sounded like…

"Chris!" she cried out in horror as she backed away quickly.

"Happy to see me?" he sneered.

"Quite the opposite." She said coldly before walking away, except her legs wouldn't move.

"What the…" she muttered as she felt herself turn around, staring right into the blood red eyes or Chris Chan.

She began to panic as her legs moved forward on their own.

_Use your own magic, block him out._ Eriol's words suddenly echoed through her mind. She took a deep breath and willed herself to stop. Then she sent a wave of strength towards her opponent, sending him stumbling backwards.

Chris scowled and moved forward quickly, attempting to grab her arm to stop her from moving. But Sakura immediately sprang into action. She caught hold of his hand and twisted it, causing him to wince in pain. Then she lashed out and kicked him between his legs, _hard._

Chris was obviously _not_ expecting that to happen and doubled up in pain.

"That should teach you not to mess with girls." She said triumphantly. She made sure to thank Syaoran for teaching her martial arts afterwards.

He growled in anger and pointed his right hand at her, muttering something under his breath. Sakura looked at him in confusion. Then she felt her eyes droop, her mouth opened in a silent "Oh" and everything went black.

* * *

I know, I'm mean to Syaoran, but I couldn't think of anything else to make him go to the bathroom. :P If he didn't, well, the rest of the story wouldn't have been able to go on. Anyway, RR please and on to the next 


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I'm never going to forgive Sakura for not letting me go to the ball!" cried a frustrated Kero. "All those yummy fruit punches…the cakes…I swear I will never forgive her!"

He kicked at the side of Sakura's bed, earning himself a pained leg.

Deciding to take his anger out in a video game, he began taking out the equipments. He stopped abruptly as something snapped inside him. His little face was now serious and filled with concern. He whispered, "Sakura…"

Eriol stopped dancing, causing Tomoyo to bang into him.

"Eriol…?" said Tomoyo, confused.

Eriol put a finger to his lips. He closed his eyes for a minute then opened them again, looking at Tomoyo, his eyes sharp and gleaming.

Then she felt it too.

"Sakura…" she said in horror.

Eriol nodded and they both hurried towards the spot where they left their friend. She was nowhere in sight.

"Where…" started Tomoyo, only to be knocked off her feet by somebody. Eriol caught hold of her and pulled her through the crowd of dancers, following the person that had knocked her down. It took her a while to realise that it was Syaoran.

She glanced at Eriol. His face was grim. This was not good.

Syaoran pushed open the doors of the school hall, ignoring the teachers that called after him. Sakura was in trouble, and he had to save her. He promised…

"Syaoran!" cried a voice from behind him. He didn't stop, he had to hurry. But where was he going?

Through gritted teeth, Syaoran forced himself to calm down. _Stop and think. _

He slowed down and stopped. Closing his eyes, he called silently with his mind. _Sakura…Sakura where are you…_

He had no idea why he did that, he just knew that it would work. There was an invisible chord between them; all he needed to this is join them up.

By that time, Eriol and Tomoyo had come to a halt beside him.

"Syaoran…" Tomoyo began but Eriol stopped her with a wave of his hand.

"He needs to concentrate…" he told her softly.

Tomoyo looked at both of them worriedly and hoped with dear life that her friend was alright. She felt miserable; she had always watched from the side line. Being the only one without magic, she felt very useless, and now, it made her feel even worse.

_Sakura…answer me…_called Syaoran silently. He was beginning to panic. What if he _was_ too late? He couldn't bear the thought…the thought of losing her…

_Syaoran…_

His heart leaped.

_Sakura! Where are you?_

_I don't know…I can't see…my magic…I can't use my magic! _

_Calm down! Guide me, I'll come find you._

_I…I can't…he did something…Syaoran!_

_Sakura! What is it? Sakura! Sakura!_

He couldn't reach her. Their connection was broken. He opened his eyes, a cry of frustration forcing itself up his throat. He looked around frantically, trying to see some kind of hint to where she was.

"Syaoran." Eriol said softly.

"Shut up." He snapped. "I'm trying to find –

"You shut up." Eriol said firmly, power radiating from his body. "Listen, I'll help, close your eyes and concentrate, think of her aura."

"Why can't you do that?" Syaoran growled back.

"You're her soul mate, I'm not. Therefore, I don't have the power to know where she is. But I can help."

Syaoran stared at him. "Soul…soul mate?"

"I'll explain later, we're wasting time."

Syaoran closed his eyes immediately and thought of Sakura's pale aura. He felt Eriol's hand on his shoulder and a strong power entered his body and mind. He felt strong and powerful.

And he knew exactly where she was.

"Yue!" Shouted Kero as he flew through the window to Touya's apartment.

"I know." Said a winged figure. "We have to find her, now." and he spread his wings.

"It's Sakura isn't it?" asked a voice.

Yue turned around, facing Touya. He nodded.

"_What_ has that girl got herself into…well I'm coming with you!" said Touya, grabbing his car keys.

"Iie, you have no magic powers left, there is no point in risking your life."

"But she's my sister!" Touya argued back to the guardian. "And what about Yuki, if you die, he'll die too! Even if I don't have magic, I can still fight!"

Yue stepped up to him and looked straight into his eyes.

"Forgive me Touya." He said quietly. His hand shot up and a wave of air hit the boy, causing him to collapse. Yue caught him and laid him the sofa.

"Let's go." Yue said, straightening up. There was a ruffle of feathers and the two guardians flew off into the night.

* * *

Sorry for another short chapt...but anyway, the next one right up! 


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Syaoran ran full-speed towards the Penguin Park, Tomoyo and Eriol close behind. They came to a halt at the entrance and spotted a figure lying motionless on the ground.

"Sakura!" Syaoran shouted in horror. Tomoyo clapped her hands to her mouth. Syaoran sprinted to the girl and fell to his knees. He shook her shoulders slightly.

"Sakura…wake up…Sakura…"

There was a groan and emerald green eyes opened slowly. Syaoran sighed with relief.

"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked urgently.

Sakura blinked. "Syaoran…?" she asked.

"What happened? Where's Chris?"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know…I can't remember…"

Syaoran frowned. "You can't remember?"

"Wait…something happened…let me think for a bit…" Sakura said, narrowing her eyes in concentration.

Then she gasped. "My star key!"

Confused, Syaoran said, "What about it?"

Her eyes widened. "He…" she looked at them helplessly. "He stole it…"

Silence followed these words.

"But…can't you just make another one…?" said Tomoyo worriedly.

"I could…but he did something to me…he took away my powers…he's a sorcerer of some sort, he hid his powers from us so we didn't know, that night, he lost to Syaoran on purpose so we wouldn't suspect anything –

"Oh Sakura, I thought I told you to keep it a secret?" interrupted a voice.

They spun around to see a cloaked figure watching them with gleaming red eyes, a smirk on his face.

"Give it back!" Syaoran shouted, standing up.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Give what?"

"You know what."

"Oh, you mean that pathetic little wand of hers?"

"Just give it back."

"And what if I don't?"

"Then you'll have me to deal with."

"Oh I'm so scared!" Chris cried in mock terror. Then he smirked. "Here, catch." And he threw a small key up into the air. Syaoran readied himself to jump and catch it. Suddenly, the key exploded into a thousand pieces, leaving only a few wisps of smoke.

Syaoran stared at the smoke, his mouth opened in surprise and shock.

"Oh, my bad. I was aiming for that tree over there, see. Must learn to aim better next time eh?" Smirked Chris.

Syaoran growled in anger and drew his sword.

"Syaoran!" shouted Eriol. "Calm down! He's too strong for you…!"

But the chestnut haired boy didn't hear him. He lunged towards the sorcerer, his sword aiming for his heart.

Chris smiled calmly and raised a hand as if to wave goodbye, and Syaoran was flung into the air. He stayed in mid-air for almost 5 seconds then came tumbling down into the ground below.

Sakura screamed.

"Wind!" commanded Eriol and Syaoran was cushioned from his fall.

Syaoran lay on his back, stunned.

"Syaoran! Daijoubu desu ka?"

"Uh…hai…" he mumbled, sitting up.

Sakura sighed with relief. "Don't _ever_ do that again." She said firmly.

There was a slight chuckle, interrupting their conversation.

"Honestly Li, I knew you were weak, but not _that_ weak." Chris sneered.

"Why you…" Syaoran threw him the worst swear word he could think of.

Chris's face twisted in rage. "I should teach you some manners wolf boy." He said coolly.

He raised his hands once more and a bolt of electricity shot from his fingertips.

"Oh no you don't…!" roared Eriol and he raised his staff, muttering ancient spells under his breath. A jet of dark blue light shot from his staff and collided with the electricity, causing a gigantic explosion. Eriol aimed another surge of blue light towards Chris, but he dodged, rising up into the air.

"Ah, Clow Reed's reincarnation." Chris nodded thoughtfully. "I remember…he was powerful…but not powerful enough!"

And flame erupted in front of Eriol.

"What the…!" yelped Eriol and he was thrown backwards, hitting the trees.

"Eriol!" screamed Tomoyo

"No! Stop!" cried Sakura. "Leave them alone!"

"Hmm…yes…I've had enough fun for one night…but the little wolf still needs some punishment…the punishment of _death._"

As soon as Chris said this, a jet of green light exploded from his palm, shooting across the night towards Syaoran.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. He had gone temporarily deaf, he couldn't hear anything; the world was silent. He stared helplessly at the green light hurtling towards him; he had no time to react. He was going to be hit; he was going to be killed –

A dark shape flung itself onto him. Sakura Kinomoto's eyes widened as she felt the force hit her.

She collapsed.

* * *

Aha...thats that...Oh yes, I forgot to say, one of my reviewers (Oh I thank you very much for reviewing, thanx a lot!) asked if Syaoran could fight better (as in, better than Sakura and Eriol) later on in the story. Well my answer is that, Syaoran _does_ fight better than Sakura, it's just the fact that she took him by surprise in that chapter when he was teaching her. As for Eriol, I'll try to add in something, although you must remember he _is_ Clow Reed's reincarnation and he _could_ jump into trees much more skillfully than Syaoran, so I had assumed that his fighting techniques would be better. Anyway, arigatoo for your reviews! (and to all the other great people who RR as well of course!) 


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Chris's face turned from anger to shock. She had just saved the boy, without caring about her own safety…he felt a weird feeling rise up from his chest. _No_. He told himself firmly, he wasn't going soft. Forcing himself to smirk, he realized that he had just cast a spell that not only killed the victim, it made them fade away into nothing…he blinked, then with a wave of his cloak, he was gone.

A silence hovered in the air. Syaoran felt dazed. The green light…what…the figure…who was it? He looked down and saw a brown haired girl sprawled on top of him. He knew the face so well, she was -

"Sakura!" screamed Syaoran in horror. He sat up and held the girl tightly to his chest.

'_The punishment…of Death!_

No…he didn't mean it…that Chan boy didn't mean it…surely…

Sakura felt all the colours drain from her face as her back exploded in pain. Her eyes were way too heavy, yet she couldn't close them, she knew she was going to die, and the last thing she was going to see was Syaoran Li's face so she could keep the image in her mind forever, no matter alive, or dead.

A small sob came from her lips as she felt the pain fill her whole body, her arm ached, her chest, her head…

"No…this is wrong…no…" Syaoran said, shaking uncontrollably.

"Syaoran…" Sakura said softly.

"Yea…?" he whispered, his voice breaking.

"Get'm."

He was going to laugh, but it came up as a sob. The tears fell freely from his eyes.

"Don't…Syaoran…don't cry…" Sakura spoke so softly he had to lean towards her to hear. She raised a trembling hand to brush away his tears. He held it tightly in his, it was so cold…so strangely cold…and…transparent?

"Be strong like my father...he didn't cry when mother died…neither should you, you shouldn't be crying over my death -"

"No!" yelled Syaoran, cutting her off, "You're going to be alright, I know it! There's got to be a cure, a spell or something…"

"He's right, we'll find something Sakura, just hang on…" said a pained voice.

Eriol was limping towards them with his arm over Tomoyo's shoulder. She had tears in her eyes. Slowly, she removed Eriol's arm from her shoulder and making sure he could stand up properly, she fell to her knees beside her best friend.

"Sakura…please…hang on…Eriol's going to find a cure…he's got a gigantic library…there's _bound_ to be a cure in one of those books…" a tear trickled down her cheek.

Sakura shook her head slightly, forcing herself to smile, forcing herself to ignore the pain in both her body and heart.

"You and I both know I won't make it Tomoyo…Chris had said it was the…the…" she didn't need to finish. Yes, they all knew, but none of them wanted to accept it…

"But Sakura…what about Kero, Yue, Yukito, your family…what about _us_? You can't give up, you just _can't_." cried Eriol.

"Out of all the people I know Eriol; I thought you would be the one to know when to accept reality when it's dancing in front of you." she winced. The pain was really unbearable now, if only it would just end…

"Syaoran…tell my brother…remember to tell him it's not his fault…and it's not your fault…please…be friends…I want you to be friends…will you?" she whispered. She had just mentioned another person that she would never see again, that she loved…the tears were threatening to fall…

Syaoran nodded quickly and gulped down mouthfuls of air, trying hard not to let his tears come down again.

"I'm tired…my eyes…so…tired…"

Syaoran let out a weak cry. He wanted to yell at her and say, don't you DARE go to sleep!

Sakura struggled to let the tears escaping from her eyelids. "Syaoran?" she said softly.

Syaoran nodded, he was listening.

"Promise that you'll take care of yourself…"

How can she be like that? She was dying and all she does is think about _other_ people. The lump in his throat was making it hard for him to breathe…and then he noticed the soft dancing lights that floated around them. He looked around him, and saw that half of Sakura's body was gone. Nearly yelling out in horror, he turned towards Eriol, hoping for an explanation. But the blue haired boy only stared back at him, shaking his head.

"Oh that's nice…fireflies…" Sakura said, suddenly wide awake, the pain from her body was gone. So this was what it felt like…dying…it felt almost…peaceful…

"No…don't go…don't go…" Syaoran cried helplessly as he watched the girl's body slowly fade away…little by little…

"I won't…I promise I'll always be there…here…pinky promise?"

Syaoran stared at her.

_You know why locking pinkies is a sign of promise?_

Her words echoed in his mind, and he understood. He raised a trembling hand, and locked his pinky with hers.

Sakura smiled as the tears fell down her cheek. It was time to go…

"Good…" her voice cracked. "Goodbye"

Then she was gone. Something warm and hard lay in Syaoran's palm. The necklace.

He saw flashes of her, her face, always smiling, always so bright and happy, and her voice calling him…

"_Syaoran!" _

"_Ohayoo, Syaoran!"_

"_What did you do today Syaoran?"_

His fingers closed around the tear shaped jewel, his body shaking uncontrollably. He shut his eyes tight, he didn't even get a chance to say goodbye…he threw back his head and glared at the cold night sky.

Then Tomoyo and Eriol heard a cry that tore from Syaoran Li's lips, a cry that echoed painfully through the silent night, a cry filled with agony and despair, a cry that pierced through their souls, and shattered their hearts.

"Sakura!"…

* * *

-Gulp- you guys are all going to kill me aren't you? -ducks kicks and punches- heh. dooon't worry i promise you it will be...ah...a happy ending! Sorry for not updating sooner I was working on my 'fairytale' fanfic...although that ones not going on tooooo well. Anyway, please RR! 


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The boy's back was against the cold wall, his knees brought up to his chest and his arms hugging them tightly. Syaoran Li's face held no emotion, his usual sharp amber eyes were now dull and cold, staring blankly, almost _lifelessly_ at the TV screen in front of him. His fingers were clutching something tightly and firmly, as if he was afraid somebody would come and snatch it away from him – it was a tear shaped jewel, emerald green in colour and it was twinkling slightly as the moonlight reflected against it.

Across the room, the midnight blue haired boy was sitting on the couch, his face miserable and sad, his eyes filled with grief. Leaning against him was a girl with raven black hair, her eyes red and swollen, her cheek damp with tears. It seems like she had shed so many tears that she had none left to cry. Eriol lifted a hand shakily and placed it on Tomoyo's. He squeezed it slightly, hoping to comfort the distressed girl next to him, but it was no use. He himself was so depressed that he couldn't find the kindness and care to comfort another.

Nobody had bothered to turn on the lights. They were left in semi-darkness; the moonlight shining through the window. They had been sitting there for almost 2 hours, just like that. No-one had said a word, no-one had made the effort to move. They sat there, thinking…just thinking…each trapped in their own minds.

Finally, a male voice broke the silence.

"I'm going to kill him."

Eriol's head shot up at Syaoran's words. "What?"

"I'm going to kill him." Syaoran repeated quietly and stood up.

Eriol jumped to hisfeet. "And how would you do that." He said, trying to keep his voice ascalmas possible, but his shaking body gave it away.

Syaoran didn't look at him but instead headed towards the door.

"You'll die." Said Eriol slowly,

"I don't care." Whispered Syaoran. "I'm going to make him pay, I'm going to kill him slowly, I'm going to torture him, hurt him, I'm going to slit his wrists and let him die painfully -"

"Syaoran!" Eriol cried in panic, his hand holding onto Tomoyo's shoulder. She was shaking uncontrollably, her eyes wide with fear at Syaoran's words.

"You're scaring Tomoyo! Stop it and come back here!" Eriol called, almost pleading.

But Syaoran didn't seem to hear him. His hand reached out towards the door knob. Eriol clenched his teeth and charged towards him. He swung Syaoran around to face him and shook his shoulders violently. "You won't be able to kill him! Don't you understand? He's too strong for us, he took Sakura's powers -"

"I can kill him!" Syaoran roared fiercely. "He killed her! He killed her! I'll kill him that bas-" But his sentence was never finished. Instead, he found himself flat against the wall. Eriol had punched him.

Syaoran's eyes were wide, his chest rising and falling quickly as he breathed. His right cheek was throbbing painfully. Eriol glared at him.

"What are you going to do," He whispered. "Walk up to him and stab him? _Think _Syaoran. We've got to at least _think_ up a strategy, or figure out _how_ to kill him instead of charging up to him blindly and -"

"I don't care!" Roared Syaoran. "I've got to do something Hiiragizawa! I can't sit here and not to anything! I've got to go up to him and -"

"And loose your life?" Eriol cut in coldly. "You promised Sakura that you would look after yourself, and getting yourself _killed_ won't make her happy."

He clenched his teeth.

_"Promise me you'll look after yourself."..._

It was true...she had said that...

_"Please don't blame yourself...it's not your fault..."_

His mouth opened slightly at the memory of her words. He shook his head slowly. His whole body felt weak."But it_is_ my fault." He whispered, running his fingers slowlythrough his hair."It's my fault..." he started laughing weakly.

Eriol stared at him.

"He was going to kill me…it's my fault she died…" Syaoran's laughtergradually turned into weak cries andsobs as he repeated the sentence over and over again. He started pulling at his hair. "She died because of me…"

Before anybody knew what was happening, he ran towards the kitchen and flung over the cupboards. His fingers fell onto the handle of a kitchen knife.

Eriolcried outas Syaoran raised the knife high into the air. Everything was going in slow motion, he watched, horrorstruck, as the knife plunged down, slowly...slowly... _move Hiiragizawa! _Then he came to his senses and his legs started moved slowly, then fast as he sprinted up to his friend and knocked him of his feet. The knife fell onto the floor with a clatter and Eriol kicked it away from them.

"What the BLOODY HELL do you think you're doing!" He yelled as he tried desperately to pin down his struggling friend. "Do you think she'll be happy if you died! Do you think she'll rest peacefully if she knew that you killed yourself? What did you promise her Syaoran Li, what!"

A silence followed his cry. The tears were falling down like rivers from Syaoran's amber eyes. He gasped for breath and wiped his face with his sleeve furiously. Eriol took a deep breath and slowly got off him. His midnight blue eyes travelled to the little kitchen knife lying a few feet away from them. Syaoran's gaze moved towards it as well, then gasped as he realised that it was the same knife...the knife that he had played with, and cut his finger, and then Sakura had...he choked on nothing. She had been so caring...so kind to him...and she was gone now. Gone forever.

He buried his face in his hands. The pit inside his stomach growing from grief and surrow. I'm sorry Sakura..." hewhispered through his sobs. "I'm so sorry..."

* * *

Gomen ne! I haven't been a very good author O.o I haven't been updating at all! Well, now, heres the 15th chapter, very 'angsty'...still, review won't you? I really need someone to tell me if I'm doing an ok job at describing feelings, and if not, I need some advice. I've got a pretty good clue on how Chris will be defeated, but if you guys would like to suggest some...ideas, then feel free to tell me and I might use your one instead! Its just that some of you are such fantastic writers,so it'll be loving to have some suggestions from you guys! 


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 

Eriol sat with his head in his hands. Painful images flashed across his mind as he recalled what had happened through the last week. The ball, the park, the death of a best friend…

After not seeing his daughter's return, Fujitaka had come to a conclusion that her daughter was missing. He had called the police and had looked all over town. All the while, Eriol and his friends could only sit and watch painfully. How were they going to tell him? How could they tell him that his daughter was no longer in this world? They didn't even have Sakura's _body…_

Touya…Touya had taken it very badly. He knew what had happened, had attempted to give Syaoran a black eye and then shut himself up in his room.

"But we must be able to do SOMETHING." He had said, but nobody had replied.

Since then, Tomoyo had not come out of her room either. Her mother was on a trip overseas, so she knew nothing about it.

Syaoran…Eriol had tried visiting him, but he never answered the door. Heck, that idiot didn't even turn on the lights.

Eriol clenched his fist. He had never felt so useless.

Who was this man? Chris Chan…it sounded so familiar, but he just couldn't place his finger on it…

But why was Chris laying low? Why wasn't he attacking them when they were most vulnerable? Was he satisfied with destroying Sakura's star key?

Eriol sniffed. He doubted it. But then, what was he planning…?

He flipped through the many pages of the book he was reading.

_Allen Shiroi…Maple Rowan…Artemis Ris'an…Saya Yamato…_

They were all powerful magicians and sorcerers, but none of them seemed to match the name 'Chris Chan'.

There was a knock at the door.

It took a moment before Eriol found his voice. He cleared his throat. "Come in."

A long haired girl opened the door to his room, followed by a small dark blue flying creature.

Eriol greeted them with a tired smile. "How is Yue and Keroberos?"

"Sleeping." Replied Nakuru. "They said they feel as if their magic is drained out of them."

Eriol nodded, understanding. Most of their magic came from Sakura, and now…Eriol thought it was best for them to rest at his house before they found out what they could do to make them better.

"Eriol-sama, is there anything we can do to help…?" asked the little animal as he flew down and sat on his master's desk.

"If you two have ever heard of a sorcerer named Chris Chan, well, yes." Replied Eriol flatly. But it was unlikely for his guardians to know if he didn't. He sighed.

"Funny name." Said Nakuru thoughtfully, sitting down on the chair. "Sounds familiar though."

"You think so too?" Eriol said, a feeling of hope rising in his chest.

Nakuru nodded. "Sounds like a potato chip's brand name."

Eriol groaned. "Nakuru, this is no time to be joking around! That man killed my best friend…!"

"And ours." Nakuru cut in. Her face grew serious. "Eriol-sama, stop thinking you're the only one in this, we are too. We want to help."

"Yes Nakuru I _know _but to talk about _food_ at this time - "

"Well I was just trying to lighten up the mood." Nakuru sniffed. "I was just about done crying over Sakura-chan and here you go talking about it again."

Eyes watering, Nakuru made a grab for the box of tissues sitting on Eriol's desk.

"Ok ok, I'm sorry." Sighed Eriol. "Any ideas, Spinel Sun?"

Pondering, the guardian replied, "Chris Chan…" He took a look at the name Eriol had written down on a piece of paper. "Look here, the first 2 letters of both names are the same."

Eriol raised an eyebrow. "Yea, and…?"

"Be patient, I'm thinking." Folding his little arms across his chest, he closed his eyes, deep in thought.

Eriol rewrote the name below.

_Ris An._

Where had he seen it…?

Suddenly, his mind cleared. His heart leaped. No wonder it was so familiar, he had been staring at it all along, how could he be so stupid? He flipped back through the pages and there it was, the name in bold.

_**Artemis Ris'an**_

Inside a dark room, a brown haired boy lay unmoving on his bed, his eyes closed.

The pain in Syaoran's chest had not ceased, his stomach was empty but he had no intention of leaving his room.

He opened his eyes and sat up.

Sakura…

He clenched his teeth. He missed her so much. Everything seemed like a dream, anytime the phone would ring and he would pick it up, hearing her cheerful voice on the other end.

He stared blankly at the calendar hanging on the wall in front of him. It had been 2 days. The girl he had come to love so much had gone away right in front of his very eyes. July 2nd. The day he will never forget. The day he had lost his soul.

_I'll always be there, I promise._

She had said that.

"But where are you? Why can't I see you?" Syaoran said softly, burying his head in his hands.

_I promise._

Syaoran's head shot up. He stared at the calendar. A glint of hope shone in his amber eyes.

_A spirit can stay in the human world for 49 days._

Realization dawned on him.

He would be able to see Sakura.

* * *

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so so so so sorry! being hit by oranges and tomatoes I haven't been updating! I know! But I have been really busy with adapting to a new school and new country, I had to catch up with a totally different language, and...oh I'm so sorry >. 

Ahem. Well hehe, here is chapter 17. I wouldn't be surprised if you don't review >. but I've got to say it anyway, please RR :P

Oh yes, thanx to the ppl who gave me some ideas for the ending lovedthem, I'll see if I can use it

Well, sorry once again, and hopefully will see you again soon


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 

_It was snowing._

_The ground was covered in a thick blanket of snow and it stretched endlessly towards the horizon. Their branches long bared, trees stood side by side, forming a road between them which lead to a lone building – an old abandoned castle._

_A lone figure limped towards the building, his injured leg useless as he dragged it across the snow, leaving behind a trail of dark red liquid. His dark clothes were drenched in the same liquor._

_Gasping for breath, he gritted his teeth and forced himself towards the castle._

_He didn't want to let her down - he __**couldn't**__ let her down._

_He had a promise to keep._

_He summoned up his strength and pushed opened the door. With a final cry, he yelled,_

"_Skylar!"_

_His voice echoed through the darkness. No one answered his call._

_Gasping, he collapsed on the floor and looked around him. It was dark, and there was no sign of life inside the castle. Where were the guards? _

_Fear hit him. Had they managed to get here before him? But then, how long had he been gone?_

_Swallowing, he positioned himself against the wall and sat up. Closing his eyes, he mustered up his powers and spoke the words of healing. The magic came slowly, but his leg was soon healed. _

_He felt like he would faint. Even for him, using magic in his state was too much. He was weary, hurt…but he had to find her. _

"_Sky…" he began to cry again, but something dripped onto his forehead. He looked up and his breath was caught in his throat. He stood up and backed away._

_The whole wall was covered in red. Thick, red, liquid were dripping onto the floor._

_Tap…tap…_

_He mouth opened in a silent 'o' and he took a step back, only to trip on something and fall onto his back. Stumbling to get up, he saw to his horror that he had tripped over a body, a body lying in a puddle of its own blood, a spear sticking out from its back._

_Gritting his teeth, he summoned his magic again and in an instant, the whole castle was bathed in an eerie glow of light, revealing its true self. _

_Bodies soaking in blood lay everywhere, some piled on top of the other, the walls were dripping with blood, the wooden floor had turned a dark brown colour._

_Taking in the picture, he realized there was no feminine body between them. Fearing the worst, he dashed towards the stairs and climbed up them. The familiar hallways seemed alien to him as he made a left turn, stopping before a closed door. Taking a deep breath, he hesitated, then pushed it open. _

"_Skylar…" He whispered, relieved at the sight of her._

_She was standing next to the window, her back to his, her fingers clenched, her long black hair, once soft and flowing, was now matted and tangled. _

_She spun around, her deep blue eyes widening. Putting her hand to her mouth, her eyes filled with tears._

"_Why…why did you come back…" she whispered, eyes filled with distress._

_He stopped in his tracks, taken aback by her question._

"_I…I came back for you, I promised, and I have never broken a promise to you." He answered. _

_She shook his head, tears falling down her beautiful face. "You shouldn't, you have no idea – NO!"_

_He stared at her questionably, starting to walk towards her, but then felt something pierce through his chest. _

_His mouth opened silently. Touching his chest, he felt something warm and thick leaking out between his finger tips. _

_His lost control of his legs and fell down onto his knees. His eyes didn't seem to be working, as everything became blurry. Looking up, he saw her blurry figure running towards him, her hands outstretched. _

_Then came a voice dripping with venom, "Finally…I have the king killed. And they say he was a powerful sorcerer." He heard him snort. "I say he is nothing but a fool, dying because of a woman."_

_He saw a figure walking out from behind him and place a sword on her neck. She stopped, hands falling limply to her side. _

"_Thank you my dear." He said, smirking. "I knew taking you hostage would be useful."_

_And he understood__**. This**__ man had killed his soldiers__**, this**__ man had hurt Skylar__**, this**__ man was threatening to take over __**his**__ castle. _

_And he would not allow it. _

_Anger blazing, he yelled in rage and sent the man hurling back into the wall with a force of energy. The wound in his chest was bleeding freely, he knew his energy was seeping out of him._

_But he would kill him before he died._

_Summoning the last of his strength, his hand began to glow and a green light erected from his palm, hitting the man squarely in the chest. The impact was so great the wall he had crashed into exploded, and the man fell down into the ground below. _

_He was dead before he hit the snow._

_Gasping, he closed his eyes and fell forward, but warm hands grabbed him before he hit the floor. _

_He heard her sobbing, her tears falling onto his cheek. He struggled to open his eyes, yet even when he did, he couldn't see her beautiful face. The face of the person he had loved so much._

Artemis Ris'an awoke with a start.

He was breathing heavily, drenched in cold sweat as he ran a hand through his damp hair.

What was that?

He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists. Why now, why did he have to dream about the past?

Taking a deep breath, he struggled to calm his pounding heart and stood up from his throne.

After the incident two days ago, he had returned to his temporary home: a place built underground, a cave's opening as its entrance. It was a temporary home because, well, he had been moving every few years ever since _that _incident – he clenched his fists at the thought of his dream again – and had been searching, always searching, for a power strong enough to save her.

_Her. Skylar. _

The name itself calmed his thoughts. He walked across the room until he was facing a stone wall and raised a hand. The wall shook a bit, and then moved aside, showing an entrance to another room. He walked in and his eyes softened as they fell upon a figure – a figure enclosed in ice. Her eyes were closed, expression peaceful, as if having a wonderful dream.

Artemis touched the ice tenderly.

"Just a while longer…" he whispered, "Just a while…and I will be able to free you from here. I can show you the world today, Skylar, everything has changed…"

There was no movement from her. Even though she was just in a deep slumber, it was as if she was dead.

There was a lump in his throat and he couldn't bring himself to speak more.

"I miss you so much…Skylar…"

And a tear slipped down his cheek.

* * *

After...nearly a year...I update...- is being beaten up - 

Gomen ne... . never knew studying in Hong Kong can be so tiring . I don't have the free time to do ANYTHING...seriously sigh but yes, this chapter. Finally revealing something about Chris, who is, in fact, Artemis. A bloody chapter too, no? XP

Hopefully will be able to update more since summer holidays is here. And I've just realised my writing skills have been going downhill...not writing for a year does that to you, I suppose.

Well, Ja ne, and please RR!


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Syaoran Li banged repeatedly on the door of a large mansion.

"Hiiragizawa! Wake up! Open the damn door, will you? Hey!"

Eriol Hiiragizawa winced as he felt another shook of the house. He sighed and lifted a cushion from his head. Reading the numbers on the clock, he groaned rather loudly to find a 6:41am blinking back at him.

"Nakuru!" he shouted, annoyed, "Please?"

There was a satisfying slam of door, angry and colourful mutterings, stomping of feet and finally a loud "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?"

Eriol sighed once again and positioned himself more comfortably on his armchair. He had fallen asleep in his study, he assumed. In front of him lay the thick old book about ancient sorcerers he had been reading last night. He frowned. If what he had been reading was true…

"Hiiragizawa!" yelled Syaoran as he flung open the door. Eriol winced once again as the door banged loudly against the wall.

"I heard you Li-kun, please, calm down, and spare my poor door."

Syaoran ignored his remark and slammed his palms onto the desk. He took a deep breath and said shakily, "Sakura…she's going to come back."

"I beg your pardon?" Eriol said absent-mindedly, still half asleep.

"Sakura is going to come back! Just like the story she told me, a spirit will stay in the human world for 49 days in order to fulfill promises or whatever it needs to get done…"

Eriol paused, then raised his head slowly to look intently at a glaring Syaoran. He opened his mouth to say something, to ask him if he was serious, to see if he was okay, but he shut it on second thought. No, Syaoran wasn't joking. He could tell by the determination and seriousness in his amber eyes, and plus - he leaned forward to rest his chin on his hands - he would never joke about Sakura.

"Sit down." He said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk, "and tell me all you know."

*****

Artemis was in pain.

He gritted his teeth as he tried, yet again, to activate the star key. Not only was he unable to use it like the card mistress, it was emitting a magic that was hurting him. Maybe because it knew he was not its real master, or maybe because it knew he was the one that killed her.

And it was angry.

Artemis half grimaced and half smirked. Impossible; the key was not alive, it couldn't possibly…He gave another yelp as the key suddenly became scorching hot, burning his hand.

More frustrated than ever, he threw the key against the wall and it landed onto the cave floor with a clatter.

Through his frustration, he almost wanted to destroy it here and now, but he knew he couldn't; he needed it to save Skylar. Back then, he had only pretended to destroy the key in order to make the brats lose all hope. In truth, he had brought it here, hoping to use its powers to bring Skylar back.

He cursed out loud. He should have kidnapped the card mistress instead of killing her, then, he would have been able to make her use the key for him. Who knew that the key would be so difficult to control?

He collapsed onto his throne. He should not have let his anger take the better of him, he should not have lost his temper and…

But he had been so furious, furious at seeing them together, so happy, and so fortunate. Why couldn't he? Why did he and Skylar have to be separated? What did _he _do to deserve this? What did _she?_

He shook his head. It wasn't fair; nothing had been fair for him. Killing just her was lucky enough for them. Now they would know what he had been through, how he had felt, how he had suffered for all these years…

He glanced at the key, pondered for a moment, and stood up to face it once more.

*****

Emerald green eyes opened slowly. She stared into nothingness for a moment, then blinked and realized she was looking at a giant penguin slide. She then noticed that she was sitting, her hands were clutching two metal chains at her side. She glanced beside her and saw a wooden seat held in mid air by two other chains. Oh, she thought, I'm sitting on a swing.

A swing?

She was slightly surprised. So this is what it's called…?

She let go of the chains and stood up slowly. Glancing at her surroundings, she realized she was in a park. Except there was something wrong with it…she pondered for a moment before understanding: the park was empty, there were no sounds of laughter, no children running around and having fun. The park was empty.

A sudden sadness took over her.

Suddenly, something brushed her cheek and she raised her hand to catch it. It was a pink flower petal.

A sakura petal…?

"Hello."

Her head rose at the voice. Turning, she saw that to the far end of the park was a figure sitting on a bench. She had long flowing black hair and gentle, emerald green eyes. She was beautiful.

The figure smiled and patted the empty space next to her. "Would you like to come and sit down?"

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded and walked towards the woman. It was hard to think that such a beautiful and kind looking person would mean any harm.

She sat down. There was a heat in her cheeks and she knew that she was blushing.

The woman only smiled even more kindly. "Why are you here, all alone?"

Alone? She was a little startled by the question.

"Shouldn't a young, pretty girl like you be playing with your friends? Or spending time with the people you love?"

Friends? People she loves? She blinked. Did she have any? She could not remember.

"What is your name?"

Name? She was suddenly afraid. What was her name? Who was she? These were such simple questions, but how could she not know the answer to them?

"My…name?" her voice came out in a whisper.

Then suddenly, images flashed through her mind. There was a girl, brown haired with green eyes who was flying in the sky. She was holding onto an object, a wand, that had a star at its tip. She felt recognition dawn on her as she realized that _she_ was the girl. Then came images of a girl with long raven black hair, a look of pure joy on her face as she held a video camera to her eyes, followed by a boy with midnight blue hair with his eyes twinkling…

And then she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw a boy with chestnut brown hair and warm amber eyes.

Who were they? She wondered, and why did she have such a feeling when she saw the brown haired boy?

There was then a flying bear, a man with long silver hair, another with spiky black, followed by an adult with graying hair and glasses, then a large group of people dressed in school uniform, all waving at her.

It was then she realized that there was a wetness to her cheeks, and she could feel an emptiness in her stomach. Her heart clenched in pain and she brought her knees into her chest, squeezing her eyes shut. What was this feeling? Why did it hurt so much?

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked up to see the woman smiling gently at her.

"It's time to go back." She said, "You have 49 days to put everything right."

She was then pulled into a soft embrace. Her eyes widened then at the familiar scent, the familiar warmth –

"I'll miss you." She heard her whisper.

No, wait –

"My dear Sakura…"

"Wait, okaa - "

But there was a flash of blinding light, and in a second, she vanished.

Nadeshiko tilted her head to the skies, her eyes filled with worry.

"Will there really be no problem, Clow-san?" she asked, uncertainty in her voice.

The scene changed to a field of flowers, and Nadeshiko was sitting under a giant oak tree.

"I assure you all will be fine." A voice came from behind her, and she turned to see the magician leaning against the tree with a book in his hand.

"She is, after all, the card mistress. I'm sure they will make an exception."

Nadeshiko frowned a little, "but I can't seem to stop thinking that we're breaking the rules…"

Clow chuckled, "Dear lady, have no fear. Besides," he smiled cheerfully, "her time was never over yet."

Nadeshiko looked up at the sky again, sunlight was scattering through the canopy of green leaves.

She sighed. "I guess I can do nothing but to wish them good luck then."

Clow closed his book gently and reached out to pat her hand. "They'll be fine. Now, would you like a cup of tea? And biscuits too…chocolate chips sound good?"

* * *

hmm not much is happening in this chapter, but oooo at least we know good news is on the way ;) please R&R!


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